cold-start-problem SKILL.md skillA
This file is byte-identical to the first copy the registry indexed, one of 4 indexed copies. Same content hash, so the same checks give both the same grade.
cold-start-problem from martineserios/thebrana is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add martineserios/thebrana/cold-start-problem@v1.2.0Pins v1.2.0 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- martineserios/thebrana
- Path
.agents/skills/cold-start-problem/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- v1.2.0, committed Jul 31, 2026
- Size
- 18,944 bytes
- Repository stars
- 3
- License
- MIT
Start and scale networked products using Andrew Chen''s "The Cold Start Problem" framework for network effects. Use when the user mentions "network effects", "chicken and egg", "cold start", "two-sided marketplace", "atomic network", "hard side", "liquidity", "critical mass", "invite-only launch", "how do I get my first users", or "the marketplace has no buyers or sellers". Also trigger when launching a marketplace, social, or collaboration product that is worthless without other users…
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# The Cold Start Problem A framework for starting and scaling products that live or die by network effects — marketplaces, social apps, messaging, and collaboration tools — distilled from Andrew Chen's *The Cold Start Problem*. Use it to launch products that are worthless until other users show up, to sequence growth network by network, and to navigate the five stages: the cold start, the tipping point, escape velocity, hitting the ceiling, and the moat. ## Core Principle **Network effects start as a liability, not an asset.** Value lives in connections between users, and on day one there are none — the same force that makes a dense network unstoppable makes an empty one useless. You don't escape by launching to a market; you escape by building one tiny, complete, self-sustaining network at a time, solving its hard side first, then tipping adjacent networks with a repeatable playbook until the market follows. ## Scoring **Goal: 10/10.** Rate launch plans and growth strategies for networked products 0-10 against the principles below. Report the current score and the specific changes needed to reach 10/10. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add martineserios/thebrana/cold-start-problem@sha256:6ee3a73a0ab3c0e0The line at the top of this page pins the label v1.2.0, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_32n7pongwngqdc2y)
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Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Jul 31, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (18944 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
- pass: No script tag
Source
martineserios/thebrana · 3 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-01 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_32n7pongwngqdc2y GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=martineserios/thebrana/cold-start-problem GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/6ee3a73a0ab3c0e0c70c75c1c36222cbca418e3c4fbfec75130f99079683af29
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.
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